Products of Thermal Decomposition of Brominated Polymer Flame Retardants

The variety of polymer materials causes they are used in packaging production, building, transport, electrical and electronics industry, agriculture, medicine and sports. Unfortunately, the main disadvantage of polymer materials is their flammability. In fire, polymeric materials pose a high risk to people, property and the environment. Above 200 flame retardants have been designed to cover most of the requirements of the market. They are mainly based on halogen (bromine and chlorine), phosphorus, inorganic and melamine compounds. Among them, brominated flame retardants are known for their very efficient role in saving lives and goods due to their optimal combination of properties. Fire effluent toxicity and toxic hazard in fires are highly dependent on both fire scenario and material composition. Therefore, measures of fire safety and the assessment of toxic effects of fires on humans, which are the key factors to assess fire hazards, have been researched in the last decades. However, it is more recognized that there is also a need to assess the environmental impact of toxic compounds within fire effluents. In this work, the study of asphyxiates, irritants, volatile and semi-volatile organic compounds emitted in fire effluents during thermal degradation of brominated polymer flame retardants was done. The steady-state tube furnace has been used specifically to generate toxic products from real fires under different conditions. The concentration of asphyxiates and irritants gases was determined using a gas analyser: Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy. The released species have been sampling using solid phase microextraction technique (SPME) and identified using gas chromatography with mass selective detector (GC-MS). Moreover, the cone calorimetry test was used to investigate material flammability and burning behaviour of selected materials.